Magnolia Season
I’ve been productive and my Magnolia season is on track to bloom. I refer to winter as Magnolia season because when I lived in Collingwood, I would [...]
July 2nd, 2025
12:29 pm
March 2nd, 2025
10:16 am
The Beast Matures – My 18th Anniversary
There are so many ways I can write about this 18th anniversary. Will you entertain me while I think aloud this year? I’m angry… that’s the first [...]
November 9th, 2024
2:45 pm
Keeping Busy, Living Life, and Staying Pain Free(ish)
The essence is all in the ‘ish’, right? But grant me this: at least I did use the words ‘pain-free’. And the words ‘busy’ and ‘living’. You [...]
July 28th, 2024
12:34 pm
Busy Advocating and Making Art – My Life Management
Although pain management is the undercurrent of my life, it no longer rules my life activity. This is a tricky mind battle that underlies everything I do. [...]
March 14th, 2023
8:29 pm
Here and There, art exhibition at Queenscliff Gallery
Here and There exhibition: paintings, drawings and etchings of Venice by me at Queenscliff Gallery. It's thrilling to be writing this post. To my friends and followers further afield than Melbourne, I will have a virtual tour of the exhibition published on the Queenscliff Gallery (QG) website where you can view the works forming the exhibition and some of my other available artworks. Here and There is a culmination of my recent trip to Venice... to date!
December 22nd, 2022
4:35 pm
Arrivederci 2022
(Image: Me in Cortona, Italy 2022) I’m signing off this year with Italian flare. I’m trying to stay positive after yet another messy year. It almost feels [...]
December 5th, 2022
11:35 am
Remember! Slow Down to Speed Up
Near impossible! Slowing yourself down when you’re feeling great is a pathetic concept for a person living with chronic illness. It’s not like you ever go very [...]
September 27th, 2022
8:43 pm
Pacing (and Baking)
A brief note on pacing Sometimes pacing means trading a walk to manage baking a cake. I wanted to post this as too many of us managing chronic illness are made [...]
September 7th, 2022
11:51 am
A Venetian Refuelling
I feel completely rejuvenated and jubilant after Theo's and my recent 3-week trip to Italy. Since my spinal cord stim implant, our life and livelihood seachange, and now, with an anti-inflammatory focus, I can feel confident that pain levels will remain right down and my happiness right up. This is a big announcement for my brain.
May 8th, 2022
1:52 pm
Keeping up my Stamina
I was going to title this blog Fatigue, but after reviewing it repeatedly, I decided to title it Stamina instead. It took me years to get to 'managing'. Now I have transitioned to pacing. As stated in my previous post, I'm living now. I'm not in a passive state watching and being attacked by an unpleasant experience. It wasn't easy getting to the state of 'management'. There are so many 'have to' activities – we can't avoid these. When I explain my 'have to' activities such as showering, making a coffee, sitting/standing all day, dressing, etc., people look at me bewildered, but you'll get me. Until this fight is experienced, one can't understand that day-to-day activities can strip your energy and count as 'activity'. It feels insane when faced with this realisation. But I have found a way...